


The Cemetery Visit

by John_Q_Sample



Category: Knight Rider (1982)
Genre: (vaguely) - Freeform, Cemetery visit, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flower Language, Roses, THEY DON'T RESPOND :(, Talking To Dead People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 06:32:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15407103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Q_Sample/pseuds/John_Q_Sample
Summary: Alone, Michael Knight roams through the cemetery with three bouquets of roses in his arms.





	The Cemetery Visit

Michael walks into the cemetery with a few paper-bound bouquets of flowers. All roses in different colors. He won’t admit it, but he’s grown to appreciate roses more than any other flowers out there. A silent glance around the cemetery confirms that he’s alone there. Good, he doesn’t have the energy to deal with other people at this moment. Alone, he steps through the dew-covered grass in search of the graves that brought him here in the first place.

*

Michael puts down a bouquet of orange roses. The flowers are odd-looking in his opinion, but he can’t help but like them. The grave is a few years old, and Michael can see a few wilted flowers from a previous visit.

“Thanks for inspiring me,” Michael says. “It’s a shame we didn’t have more time together, you know? Devon always liked you a lot. Apparently I’m supposed to remind him of you or something. I don’t know.”

Michael laughs nervously at the idea. Him! “Well...I always thought it was weird the stuff you didn’t tell me about. KARR. Garthe. Those are the only ones I can think about for the time being, but...You know, I like that you were just trying to help me get better while I was there. I don’t know if I would have been able to do it if you were giving me all these warnings. Devon filled me in when it was necessary, anyway. Thanks for that.”

Michael begins pacing. The paper from the other two bouquets crinkle in his grip. “That thing you said to me, that one man can make a difference, I don’t think I would still be here if you hadn’t said it to me. I definitely wouldn’t be working at the Foundation. Was that your plan all along? Probably. It seems like you always knew what you were doing. Or, I don’t know, maybe you were just a man of whimsy.”

Michael stops and bites his lip, frowning. “I gotta be honest here. I do miss you. A lot more than I really expected to, actually. Devon’s been showing me a lot of old pictures of you. With your family and all. He even showed me this one someone took of you two on his motorcycle. I’ll be honest, that was pretty neat. It would have been great to get to know you better, you know? I’m sure we would have gotten along.”

Michael pauses, turns around. “Oh, one last thing? Thanks for KITT. I don't know what I'd do without him.”

*

This grave receives the yellow bouquet. It’s more of an honorary grave since the body was never recovered. There aren’t any flowers. Michael can’t recall any visitors, now that he thinks about it. Even the makeshift funeral was poor, with only a few people there.

Michael begins with, “I’m not going to lie and say that I liked you. And I know you didn’t care for me. You made that  _ abundantly _ clear.”

Here, he hesitates. He doesn’t know what to say, why he’s here.

Right, because no one else will visit.

“I’m sorry,” Michael says, starting over again. “Well...I’m sorry you weren’t told about any of this. Wilton, he was always distracted by other things, I think. He didn’t tell me about you, or vice versa. I think...”

Michael shifts his weight. He winces, looking back at the grave.

“I think things could have been different, but we can’t change that now, you know? I’m glad it’s over, but it didn’t have to end that way.”

Michael hesitates again. He nods to the empty grave and says, “Goodbye, then. Oh, and if you’re still alive? Don’t mention this conversation to anyone else, got it?”

*

The last bouquet of roses is red, the deepest shade of crimson he could find in the flower shop. Michael brings them to his face, closes his eyes, lets them drop onto the grass below.

“I miss you every day,” he says, wiping his eyes. “I keep the necklace with me every day. The ring, too. I don’t usually wear it anymore, just keep it with me in my pocket. Sometimes...”

He stops and shakes his head while blinking rapidly to stop the tears he knows are going to come.

“See, this is why I didn’t talk to you first!” Michael says with a laugh. It sounds awful and hurts his throat. He falls silent for a few seconds. Closing his eyes, he lets a few more tears slip out, reminding himself that there’s no one here to see him.

“Look at me,” he mutters. “This is ridiculous!”

He wipes at his eyes again before sitting down cross-legged in front of the grave. He takes the wedding ring from his pocket and slips it on, spinning it thoughtfully as he comes up with what to say. It doesn’t matter. None of them can hear him anyway. Or maybe they’re listening...somewhere.

“It could have been me that was shot there, instead of you,” Michael says slowly. “Sometimes I wish it was. But...it wasn’t. You saved me. I could never repay you enough for that. You...gave me a reason to keep going. You still do.”

Man, he wishes he brought some tissues for this. He pushes back his leather jacket and wipes his eyes with the sleeves of the red shirt underneath.

“I think KITT misses hanging out with you too, you know? You were always nice to him. I dunno, maybe you were just inflating his ego. For a car, he’s got quite a big one.” Michael looks up suddenly. “But don’t tell him I said that, okay?”

He bites the inside of his cheek and brings his knees up to his chest.

“I wish I could have told you the truth,” he says. “Why you were always saying I looked so familiar, you know. But that’s private information. Dangerous, even. I guess I didn’t want to put you in danger...” Michael looks down. “Even though you always were anyway.”

He waits a few seconds. For what, a response? A bird in one of the nearby tries cries out. Some leaves rustle. That’s all he gets.

“If I wasn’t so consumed with my work at the Foundation, maybe it could have been different. But...that’s not something you can leave from. Sometimes I’m so tired of it I think of quitting again. But, you know, one man can make a difference, right? Why shouldn’t I be that man? I feel like it’s my responsibility now.”

Michael sighs. He’s so tired.

“I know it’s hard to understand. And I know you tried, too. I just don’t know what to do now.”

Finally, he pushes himself up to his feet and brushes the dirt off the back of his jeans.

“You know? Sometimes I still hope to run into you in some grocery store or something. Against all odds.”

*

Michael hesitates on one last grave, close to the one he left the red roses by. Of course it is. He didn’t think this grave needed any flowers, and apparently no one else has either. The man’s been dead for years, nearly everyone who knew him gone by  now.

Michael presses a smile, looking at the familiar name. One he personally hasn’t seen in years. He knows the coffin has nothing more than a fake body in it, an elaborate cover-up scheme he himself is a part of.

“Nice knowin’ you, pal,” he says, nodding towards the grave before walking off.

*

“Sorry I’m late, Devon. I had some work to do,” Michael says with his usual smile.

“What kind of work?” Devon asks, frowning in confusion. Or is that concern?

“Oh, you know, personal business.”

Devon looks at him appraisingly for a few seconds. “I understand. Oh, Michael?”

“Hm?”

Devon holds up his hand.

“Oh, right!” Michael slips the ring off and puts it in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. “Thanks, Devon.”

“Any time, Michael.”

**Author's Note:**

> so i didn't mean to go the no-names route but i did b/c i accidentally didn't name wilton and just went with it  
> had i not gone that way, i would've probably just named each section w/ who michael visits but anyway  
> uhhh i watched the first stevie ep so i'm still sad abt her lol =(


End file.
